Garcia wants Toledo City Charter Day declared special non-working holiday

CEBU, Philippines - Third district Representative Gwendolyn Garcia is pushing for the declaration of January 6 every year as a special non-working holiday in Toledo City to celebrate its Charter Day.

Garcia filed House Bill 4075 following the request of the City Council through a resolution sponsored Councilor Ricardo Pepito.

On June 19, 1960, Toledo became a chartered city under Republic Act No. 2688. Since then, it has been a long-standing tradition in Toledo City to celebrate its Charter Day with merriment, meaning, and significance to provide its hardworking residents the time to reminisce their city’s founding day and to boost their camaraderie as a community of peace-loving citizens.

 â€œThis bill seeks to designate January 6 of every year as a Special Non-Working Holiday to benefit the people of the City of Toledo, Province of Cebu,” Garcia said.

 Pepito said that other chartered cities in Cebu have their Charter Days declared as special non-working holiday for them to be able to celebrate with added meaning and significance reminiscent of its founding day.

January 6 of every year has been celebrated as the Charter Day of the City of Toledo but it has not yet been declared by Congress or by a Presidential Decree as a holiday.

Toledo was originally known as “Hinulawan” which derived its name from the Hinulawan River running across the municipality.

It was renamed Toledo, during its establishment as a new town, borrowing the name from a province of Spain. When the first Philippine Republic was formed under President Emilio Aguinaldo, Toledo was converted into a district of Cebu Province and governed by a “Junta Popular.”

Following the colonization of the archipelago in 1896 to 1946, Toledo became a full-pledged municipality when Governor Francis Burton Harrison signed Act No. 119 on December 19, 1919. (FREEMAN)